Sports Injury Chiropractic Treatment St Paul MN

Tuesday, 05 June 2012 06:00

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Minnesota Chiropractic Treatment | Sports Injuries

According to experts, as much as 20 percent of all sports-related injuries involve the lower back or neck. Running and weightlifting, and other sports that involve repetitive impact, expose children to a high risk for lumbar (lower back) injuries. Contact sports, such as soccer and football, expose the cervical spine, or neck, to injury.

Though there is no such thing as a “safe” sport, highly competitive sports, such as football, weightlifting, gymnastics, and wrestling, pose particularly higher risks of injuries, especially among children.

More than one-third of all high school football players sustain some type of injury. Soccer participants are easy candidates for mild to severe head traumas, neck injuries, cervical spine damage, headache, neck pain, dizziness, irritability, and insomnia. Heading the ball, the act of using the head to re-direct the soccer ball, has been linked with cervical injuries in children and adults.

The trampoline and gymnastics also present significant risks for spinal cord injuries from unexpected and brute falls or contact with hard surfaces.

Bicycling – Poor posture can greatly increase your risks of a back injury during cycling. When riding a bike, your lower back is constantly flexing sideways and up and down. Upper back injuries can involve the flexing of the neck. And the bumps and jars incurred on the road during cycling can wreak havoc and possible compression injuries to your spine.

Running/jogging – Running and jogging puts a great deal of stress on your back, since the constant pounding against a hard surface can jar, and possibly compress, structures such as vertebrae, joints, and discs.

Skiing – Skiing involves a great deal of twisting and turning motions, as well as jarring landings, all of which can cause muscle sprains and strains and in some cases, minor spinal fractures.

Swimming – Swimmers are known to incur lower back injuries. Motions such as the crawl or breaststroke can cause the lumbar region to be hyperextended. If the swimmer is not properly conditioned or warmed up, the hyperextension sometimes doesn’t subside.

Tennis – “Tennis elbow” is a layman’s term for pain on the lateral, or outside part of the elbow, on or near the bony protrusion. Tennis elbow is caused when the tendon from the elbow bone tears or is ruptured. It is no surprise that professional tennis players can become inflicted with this with all of the stress and strain they place on the joint during play. In addition, tennis players are in constant motion, and the repeated twisting and trunk rotations can cause injuries. Shoulder injuries and turned ankles and knees also are common. The act of serving the ball also has been shown to hyperextend the lower back, and possibly compress discs.

Weight lifting/body building – Body builders are at a significant risk for a host of serious back, shoulder, neck, and knee injuries. Resistance training has been known to cause muscle strains and sprains, ligament and tendon injuries, and in some cases, stress fractures (also called spondylolysis). Older people seem to be at higher risk since their bones and discs are more brittle.

Stay In The Game!

Playing sports is a lot of fun. Getting hurt is not. Take these five steps to prevent injuries so you can stay in the game:

Wear protective gear, such as helmets, protective pads, and other gear.

Warm up and cool down.

Know the rules of the game.

Watch out for others.

Don’t play when you’re injured.

Chiropractic Treatment Can Prevent Future Injuries!

The more you understand your body and how it functions, the better equipped you’ll be at taking care of yourself to achieve optimal health. Chiropractic professionals empower patients to take charge of your own health and future, educating you about your condition to decrease your need for future care.

Chiropractic care is not only exceptional in the treatment of acute and chronic injuries but is equally successful in preventing future injuries when regular care is received. Chiropractic treatments concentrates on the cause of the injury rather than only the symptoms. Pain relief by itself is insufficient with regard to managing sports injuries. Not only do chiropractic treatments help the athlete to recover from injuries much more quickly than other methods of care, they also help to minimize the risk of future injuries.

We hope you will turn to these pages whenever you have a question about health related issues and we urge you to contact us at any time to schedule an appointment.